Timbuli Porsche Leads First Practice On the Nordschleife

The TimbuliRacing Porsche 997 GT3 R set the pace during the first 90 minute practice session for the 2012 Nurburgring 24 Hours, grabbing the fastest time by nearly 4.5 seconds.

The Timbuli team comprised of MarcHennerici, MarcoSeefried, DennisBusch and NorbertSiedler jumped to the top of the times with a lap of 8:31.058 late on pulling out an advantage, that even on the Nordschleife, was made to look enormous my the dwindling gaps splitting the chasing pack.

Behind the pace setters just 0.156 seconds split the next four, the no.11 TeamManthey Porsche (MarcLieb, RomainDumas, LucasLuhr, RichardLeitz) in third just two-thousandths of a second shy of the AudiSportTeamPhoenix no.2 (MarcelFassler, ChristopherMies, ReneRast, FrankStippler) in second place (8:35.458) . The BMWTeamSchubert Z4 (no.20 ClaudiaHurtgen, DominikSchwager, NicoBastian, DirkAdorf) in fourth.

With Aston Martin and Mercedes' top representatives in sixth and seventh respectively and the HariboRacingTeam Corvette (no.90 RichardWestbrook, TommyMilner, JanMagnussen, DanielKeilwitz) in tenth making it sixth different marques in the top ten. Furthermore the best McLaren MP4-12C – that of the NickHeidfeld featuring GembellaRacing team – in twelfth (8:38.995).

Gembella Racing has the best McLaren of the session, Dorr Motorsport's no.69 was 28th overall (Photo Credit: Chris Gurton Photography)

The top 21 cars in the times where all SP9-GT3 cars, the hybrid P4/5 Competizione in 22nd. GazooRacing's Lexus LFA was 30th overall, leading in the SP8 class (8:54.079), one place ahead of the SP7 car of Manthey Racing.

TeamMatholRacing's Aston Martin Vantage was 50th fastest – the best SP10 GT4 car (9:31.709) with the NovaRacing Ginetta – featuring MichaelSimpson – third in class albeit ten seconds and six places further back, the Aston Martin Zagato one of the cars filling the gap.

Running for the 189 cars (according to the results of practice) continues tonight with a four hour session taking them into the darkness.